Keynote Speakers

Dr. Margaret Hamburg

Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration

Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg is Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), where she has served since May 2009. As FDA Commissioner, she is advancing regulatory science, medical product innovation and globalization of the agency, while overseeing the implementation of groundbreaking laws to curb the use of tobacco and enhance food safety. She has undertaken major efforts to streamline and modernize FDA's regulatory pathways.

Before joining the FDA, Dr. Hamburg was vice president and senior scientist at the Nuclear Threat Initiative. In the 1990s, as New York City's Health Commissioner, she launched several major initiatives, including the nation's first public health bioterrorism preparedness program and an internationally recognized program to curtail the resurgence and spread of TB. President Clinton later named her Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Hamburg earned her M.D. from Harvard Medical School.

Dr. George Church

George Church is Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, Director of PersonalGenomes.org, providing the world's only open-access information on human Genomic, Environmental & Trait data (GET). His 1984 Harvard PhD included the first methods for direct genome sequencing, molecular multiplexing & barcoding. These lead to the first commercial genome sequence (pathogen, Helicobacter pylori) in 1994. His innovations in "next generation" genome sequencing and synthesis & cell/tissue engineering resulted in 12 companies spanning fields including medical genomics (Knome, Alacris, AbVitro, GoodStart, Pathogenica) and synthetic biology (LS9, Joule, Gen9, Warp Drive) as well as new privacy, biosafety & biosecurity policies. He is director of the NIH Center for Excellence in Genomic Science. His honors include election to NAS & NAE and Franklin Bower Laureate for Achievement in Science.

Alex Azar

President, Lilly USA, LLC at Eli Lilly and Company

Alex Azar is President of Lilly USA, LLC, the largest affiliate of global biopharmaceutical leader Eli Lilly and Company, producing approximately half of its revenue. Mr. Azar's responsibilities include direction over Lilly USA, LLC, the legal entity that houses the operations of the company's U.S. commercial business: the U.S. Bio-Medicines, Diabetes, and Oncology business units. He also directly leads U.S. Bio-Medicines, the affiliate's largest division, encompassing the areas of neuroscience, cardiovascular health, men's health, musculoskeletal, autoimmune disease, Alzheimer's disease, and Managed Healthcare Services. Mr. Azar served as vice president of Lilly's U.S. Managed Healthcare Services division and its Puerto Rico affiliate from 2009-2011. He joined Lilly in 2007 as senior vice president of corporate affairs and communications.

Before his tenure at Lilly, Azar was the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2005-2007), where he was the number two official and chief operating officer for the largest civilian cabinet department in the U.S. government, with a budget of $698 billion and more than 66,000 employees reporting up to him. From 2001-2005, he served HHS as General Counsel.

Mr. Azar earned a bachelor's degree summa cum laude in government and economics from Dartmouth College in 1988, and a law degree from Yale University in 1991. After law school, he clerked for Associate Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court of the United States.

Mr. Azar is a member of several boards, including the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) as Chair of the Reimbursement Committee, the Healthcare Leadership Council (Treasurer), the American Council on Germany, the Yale Law School Association Executive Committee (Vice President), and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. He lives in Indianapolis with his wife and two children.

Kieran Murphy

President and CEO, GE Healthcare Life Sciences

Kieran Murphy is President and Chief Executive Officer of GE Healthcare Life Sciences, a $4 billion molecular medicine business that provides a broad range of industry-leading technologies and services for drug discovery, pre-clinical and clinical development and biopharmaceutical manufacturing, as well as molecular tools for therapy selection and treatment monitoring in patient care. Kieran was appointed CEO in May 2013, following a strategic decision to combine the product and technical capabilities of two former GE Healthcare units, Life Sciences and Medical Diagnostics.

Kieran joined GE Healthcare in 2008 from Whatman plc, a $230 million global supplier of filters and membranes for laboratory research, life sciences and medical diagnostic applications. Kieran has over twenty years' experience in the global life sciences and biotechnology industry, beginning his career with Janssen Pharmaceutical, a division of Johnson and Johnson, followed by leadership roles with Mallinckrodt, veterinary medicines provider Vericore, Novartis, Adprotech, ML Laboratories and Innovata plc.

Kieran earned his bachelor's degree in 1984 from University College, Dublin. He subsequently graduated from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology with a master's degree in Marketing.